Writer…Runner…Birder

buddhism

You carry Mother Earth within you.
She is not outside of you.
Mother Earth is not just your environment.
In that insight of inter-being,
it is possible to have real communication with the Earth,
which is the highest form of prayer.
~ Thich Nhat Hanh

I haven’t been around these parts in quite some time.
Part of me feels badly about that, but another part knows it was necessary.
I needed that time to hunker down and conserve strength.
And the good news is that I am feeling stronger and more resilient these days.
Yay, me!

Stuff has fallen apart.
But I’ve come to understand on a whole new level that stuff falls apart for everyone.
Every day.
Life as we know it is an ongoing series of sunshine and shit-storms,
and I’m learning not to fight that truth.

As Pema Chodron writes in WHEN THINGS FALL APART:Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.

I’m grateful for that tiny Buddhist nun and the wisdom she shares, and I’m grateful for friends who reached out during my hunkering-down. I apologize for the silence and will be in touch.

Tracy in search of Owls

Tracy is . . .

a writer of contemporary middle-grade and young adult fiction & nonfiction who enjoys trail running, hoop dancing, and bird watching. Sometimes, all of the above happen before her first cup of coffee.
BLOG KEY: Zippy = spouse. Wildebeest and Zebu = sons. Love and laughter = essential.